While many of country music’s finest artists walked the red carpet at the 2018 CMA Awards on Wednesday (Nov. 14), Granger Smith brought along a special guest who had perhaps the most incredible story of them all.

“What a privilege to walk the red carpet with SGT Steven Curry, a living representation of the sacrifice made on behalf of people like me, just a guy lucky enough to live my version of the American dream,” Smith wrote on his Instagram shortly after the awards show alongside a pic of the dapper pair. “He has a true servant's heart to have joined me.”

Granger went on to say that "we should all live a life worthy of the sacrifice. My friend SGT Curry understands that. He was there."

According to Homes for Our Troops, Curry served in the Army in Afghanistan. During his second combat tour in November of 2006, the vehicle he was riding in was struck by four explosive devices, giving him a traumatic brain injury and causing his left leg to be amputated below the knee. A married father of two, he's now able to look after his kids, cook and clean, and he's still able to enjoy hobbies that include mountain biking and cheering on his daughter at swim meets.

It’s the story of veterans like Curry that Smith will tell in his new documentary They Were There: A Hero’s Documentary, set for release on Nov. 30. The movie honors the life stories of five soldiers who lost their lives while in service to our country.

“When a hero falls, their legacy must live on,” Smith says in a press release about the documentary, which will air on his YouTube channel. “Their sacrifice has sewn the fabric of our freedom, and their story must be retold.”